Forms of the Grotesque in The Juniper Tree

Abstract

This essay argues for the multifold relevance of the Bakhtinian grotesque to the Brothers Grimm tale The Juniper Tree. The woman’s pregnancy, described in relation to nature’s life-death cycle, represents both the grotesque on the individual body and its its larger role in the rebirth that it advances. The mother dies after giving birth. The father remarries an abusive woman who decapitates and cooks his son in a stew, which the father unknowingly eats. The tale highlights the carnivalesque song, “My Mother Slew Me, My Father Ate Me,” sung by a bird born from the tree where the son’s bones are buried. The tale’s interpolations of prose and verse become central to its depictions of Romantic moral development. The song functions as a cris de Paris to create a marketplace that advances dialogue. The performance further illuminates the grotesque and guides the narrative until justice is restored.